litter trays! yes or no?

This is out of curiosity, how many of you with indoor/outdoor cats still give your cat a litter tray?

When I got my kitten Amelia she was 3 months old, so she had a litter tray while we were keeping her in to get used to her new home. The litter tray stayed as when she was five months I decided she should not be allowed out much in case she got pregnant, until I got her spayed at seven months. Then I took her away with me for Christmas and when I brought her back, she was to be trained to go outside. My housemates had owned cats but had never had a cat without a litter tray! It's always been my experience that once a kitten is neutered or spayed, inoculated, and used to being outdoors, that the litter tray is taken away and they have to "go" outdoors. They "ask" when they need to go out. My housemates had never heard of a cat asking to go out, and also one of them suggested that a cat can't go outside when it's cold!

I've lived this way with all my cats. My big cat had an accident in my sitting room yesterday but it wasn't his fault, I stayed up till 6am watching Brexit live and slept in, so he missed his usual window. But friends are asking "Why doesn't he have a tray?"

My cats are very clean and it was my bad, not getting up at my usual time. But I wont give my cats a tray. They know to go outside! They're allowed inside and outside access most of the day, can be left out for 12 hours but never shut in for more than 6.

What are your thoughts? Tray or no tray?

dr.fuzzenstein

Catflap, get rid of the tray, never look back.

dr.fuzzenstein

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Catflap, get rid of the tray, never look back.

Oh, to own my own place! I would. But not suitable where I'm living now. At the moment we reply on going in and out window. My cats know how loud to meow to alert me!

There was a catflap in the last place I rented. two other cats living there. My Amelia used to smack the cats in the face trying to come in, and even better, give them a slap up the arse on the way out.

Staph

I don't use a litter tray. My cat goes outside. I bring her out during the day and she will also call me to go out if she needs to. Occasional accidents if I wasn't home in time etc, but overall it work for us.

theteal

Our 2 are just about 18 months old. We leave the small kitchen window open during the day so they go in/out as they please. We did originally keep a tray for night time but they never used it, preferring to wait to be let out in the morning.

The tray (it's more of a box tbh) is now only used for travel, in fact it's still in the car from our trip back to Dublin last month.

Being honest op, were I living with other people I think I would definitely keep a tray available in case of emergency

PlainP

No tray. My two would be on the mature side. Only ever have a tray if we know were going to be away for extended periods (which is never really). They both know to stand/sit at the door and this is the signal they use.

The eldest has this knack that he does. He comes into our room and scrapes at anything (bed,spare box ,door)to get us out of bed to let him out.


If there are any "accidents" they are usually in the bath which is good really as it's easy to clean but these would be very few a far between.

Shenshen

We've 4 indoor/outdoors cats, and 4 litter trays in the house.
I've never heard of anyone having cats that would come indoors and not provide trays before. What do you do when they need to go at 3am?

anothernight

No tray here. I used to always have a litter tray, and once even had a cat who'd come into the house from outside just to go to the toilet! Then I moved in with my boyfriend and he taught the cats to go toilet outside.

I'd never heard of not using a litter tray for cats before, but now I'd only go back if it was absolutely necessary.

Alun

Our cat will come in from outside and go immediately to use her litter tray sometimes. We can't have a cat flap, and when we go out we leave her indoors if the weather is bad, so definitely need a litter tray, or rather two.

Staph

Shenshen wrote: »

We've 4 indoor/outdoors cats, and 4 litter trays in the house.
I've never heard of anyone having cats that would come indoors and not provide trays before. What do you do when they need to go at 3am?

I bring her out before bed. If she calls during the night I'll bring her out, but it's very rare for her to call during the night.
No one thinks it odd to train a dog like this, to go outside and signal when they want to go out when inside.

thegreatgonzo

My cat can go out if she wants but she has her tray inside. I prefer to have it there in case I ever need to get a urine sample or monitor her output.

Wanderer41

My last cat never had a litter tray (at least I don't think she did). She always went outside. If she did need to go out at night she would have no hesitation waking us up (for anything) Currently in the process of switching our kitten to going to the toilet outdoors. So far so good, she seems to be going outside most of the time now.

Fluffy Cat 88

Mine are adult cats, they have no litter tray. They come and go as they please, spending more time outside this time of year.

They meow if they want to go out - its great! No accidents except once when I accidentally shut one in the hotpress a few years ago

anothernight

Shenshen wrote: »

We've 4 indoor/outdoors cats, and 4 litter trays in the house.
I've never heard of anyone having cats that would come indoors and not provide trays before. What do you do when they need to go at 3am?

In my experience (which is skewed by having a mostly nocturnal OH!) cats know your daily routine and will adjust their feed and toilet times accordingly. My cat wakes us if she really needs to go in the middle of the night and everyone is asleep.

morgana

Our three have full outdoor access through the cat flap. We have one litter tray just in case. It is rarely used unless the weather is absolutely ****e or one of them feels lazy or insecure for some reason.

Shenshen

Staph wrote: »

I bring her out before bed. If she calls during the night I'll bring her out, but it's very rare for her to call during the night.
No one thinks it odd to train a dog like this, to go outside and signal when they want to go out when inside.

Er... ok. Our cats are not allowed out at night. Too many boy racers, foxes and drunk human beings around for us to feel that it would be safe for the cats.

Staph

My cat stays in overnight too. There's a few feral cats around that attack her, so she's mainly inside. She comes outside when we're outside in the garden during the day. She is also brought outside before we are leaving the house, going to bed or when she calls us to go out.

OldNotWIse

My little feckers (who are half indoors, half outdoors) will actually come inside to use the trays If they hear me filling the trays with new litter, there's a feckin rush to be the first to use it!

Rancid

OldNotWIse wrote: »

My little feckers (who are half indoors, half outdoors) will actually come inside to use the trays If they hear me filling the trays with new litter, there's a feckin rush to be the first to use it!

Oh, I, too, am familiar with that type of feline behaviour!!
And if I'm not fast enough to put the new litter into the washed and dried tray, one of mine will christen it anyway!

2 cats, 2 litter boxes that they always have access to.

OldNotWIse

Rancid wrote: »

Oh, I, too, am familiar with that type of feline behaviour!!
And if I'm not fast enough to put the new litter into the washed and dried tray, one of mine will christen it anyway!

2 cats, 2 litter boxes that they always have access to.

Yup, and also the smugness on them when I turn my back and they go in the bag of litter that I accidentally left open.

Rancid

OldNotWIse wrote: »

Yup, and also the smugness on them when I turn my back and they go in the bag of litter that I accidentally left open.

Shhhhhhh! Mine haven't worked that one out yet!

RhubarbCrumble

I have my cat just about two years now. She was a stray who turned up in the back garden and just sort of moved herself in! She's an indoor/outdoor cat in that she (mostly) sleeps indoors at night, but will go in and out during the day. Anyway, when we decided she was going to stay we got a litter tray for her but she rarely uses it. I'd say 99% of the time she goes outside, so it's just there 'just in case' really. It's tucked into a discreet corner of the hall so not doing any harm.

daywatcher

I have 2 cats (brothers) who have free access to the garden through a catflap during the day. One almost exclusively goes to the toilet outside, except when he piddles on the furniture inside - a sure sign that his recurrent cystitis has flared up again. The other almost exclusively uses the litter tray to piddle in but always does a number 2 outside. I had been allowing them to come and go 24/7 but after one of them disappeared for over a day, I now keep them in again overnight. I put flyers through the neighbour's doors asking them to check locked spaces like garages and sheds for the missing cat. A couple of hours later a very thirsty and hungry missing cat arrived home.

daywatcher

daywatcher wrote: »

I have 2 cats (brothers) who have free access to the garden through a catflap during the day. One almost exclusively goes to the toilet outside, except when he piddles on the furniture inside - a sure sign that his recurrent cystitis has flared up again. The other almost exclusively uses the litter tray to piddle in but always does a number 2 outside. I had been allowing them to come and go 24/7 but after one of them disappeared for over a day, I now keep them in again overnight. I put flyers through the neighbour's doors asking them to check locked spaces like garages and sheds for the missing cat. A couple of hours later a very thirsty and hungry missing cat arrived home.

BTW, I now have 4 litter trays scattered around the house.

janmaree

OldNotWIse wrote: »

My little feckers (who are half indoors, half outdoors) will actually come inside to use the trays If they hear me filling the trays with new litter, there's a feckin rush to be the first to use it!

Same here!!! In fact one of my two indoor/outdoor girls will do a little "river dance" outside the door where I imagine she's saying, "let me in, let me in....I need to go to the toilet"!!!

Themadhouse

All mine are indoor so we have trays.
I would always suggest a tray if possible for indoor/outdoor cats or outdoor only cats. It's a good way of monitoring their health, runs, constipation, blood in urine etc

angeline

My cat is mainly indoor so always uses a litter tray. She only goes out during the day in to the back garden if the weather is fine. I only leave her out when I'm around for safety reasons. Too many cats killed on the road.

SarahMollie

This is really interesting to me.

Myself and my OH adopted an adult cat a few months ago and have used a litter tray since. Neither of us really like it. He sleeps in our kitchen over night and is let out at around 7.30 in the morning.

If we were able to commit to getting up at 7.30 every morning (inc weekends - when we'd then go back to bed) could we ween him off the litter tray? Or have we left it too late?

The flooring is pretty robust if there are any accidents but I think the occasional accident might be worth not having a great ugly litter tray in the kitchen at all times.

Thoughts?

Shivi111

Our guys are inside/outside, but we have litter trays in the house for them that they come inside to use, seems more responsible pet owenership to me as it stops them toileting in neighbours gardens...

Staph

That's quite a broad statement, calling people irresponsible. My cat definitely uses my 1 acre garden. She only goes outside supervised, as there are feral cats around and they try to attack her. She looks to go outside for the toilet and loves to sniff and mark different places around her territory. This situation suits us and other people prefer to use trays. All's good as long as the cats are happy.

PlainP

Shivi111 wrote: »

Our guys are inside/outside, but we have litter trays in the house for them that they come inside to use, seems more responsible pet owenership to me as it stops them toileting in neighbours gardens...

So are you saying that you being "the responsible" ower when your cat goes outside do you watch it constantly, do you follow it around with a little bag picking up all the poo?

I somehow doubt it -But keep on thinking you're very responsible.

janmaree

SarahMollie wrote: »

This is really interesting to me.

Myself and my OH adopted an adult cat a few months ago and have used a litter tray since. Neither of us really like it. He sleeps in our kitchen over night and is let out at around 7.30 in the morning.

If we were able to commit to getting up at 7.30 every morning (inc weekends - when we'd then go back to bed) could we ween him off the litter tray? Or have we left it too late?

The flooring is pretty robust if there are any accidents but I think the occasional accident might be worth not having a great ugly litter tray in the kitchen at all times.

Thoughts?

I understand how you feel, they're not the nicest of things to look at in the house but I think they're a necessary evil. That's why I invested in the litter trays with covers, they look for all the world like a cat carrier but they have a swing door that allows them to come and go and have some privacy while they're at it. The cover also stops the litter flying around the place when they're dutifully burying the evidence and it's a whole lot easier on the eye. They're not all that expensive and are pretty robust so they will last. The cover just clips on and off for easy access when cleaning/replacing litter and you can even get stick-up deodorisers to attach inside the cover. I think they're fantastic and wouldn't be without them at this stage. Hope it helps.